Title: It Was Love

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Ranma/Akane

Summary: Ranma is leaving. Akane will do anything to make him stay.

A/N: This is M.R., who is totally into slash but since my best friends *glares at H.I. and Suri* are in love with R/A and such, I decided to write this as a birthday present for Suri *beams* You're really sweet, and sorry I haven't written to you for a while.

It's been two, three years since I'd last written a het fic, so comments are welcomed, and of course, if I say I don't want reviews, I'd be lying. Review and Ranma and Akane will love you forever!

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Ranma was leaving.

He informed them all yesterday that there was no way he was staying here anymore. He hated the place, he hated the school, and he hated his good-for-nothing, so-called father.

Now, everyone was assuming that he was just joking around, and won't have the guts to actually leave for good, but Akane knew better.

She'd seen the changes in Ranma lately. He was more reserved, aloof, and even when she tried to provoke him, he just waved her aside. At first, it irritated Akane, since he'd always replied to her presence. Positively or negatively, he had always acknowledged her, now... it was as if she wasn't there anymore. And it wasn't just her, he had been distancing himself away from the others, too, except that they didn't notice it at all.

So when Akane heard that he was leaving, she knew he wasn't joking. It shouldn't have bothered her, but it did anyway, and Akane knew why. She knew of her feeling for him, and it didn't help the matter at all when he ignored her oh so cruelly. She tried to deny it - god knew how hard she was trying, but even then it wasn't enough to chase away her attraction for him... an attraction that ran deeper than physical appearance or his godly strength... it was more than that...

Akane wasn't someone to give up easily, and she was definitely not giving up someone she needed so much.

Therefore, as Akane walked toward Ranma's bedroom, she made up her mind and swore not to let Ranma go, even if it meant giving away something she'd never thought of giving to anyone.

Well, anyone else.

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Ranma was packing. Clothes were thrown in heaps around the room, some hanging from the fan, and some half-falling out of the window. He didn't look up when the door slid open and Akane came in.

She watched him as he worked, his shoulders tensed and even when she came closer, he still didn't look up at her.

"Ranma," Akane said, hesitantly, wondering if he really didn't notice her, or was ignoring her.

Ranma froze, but still, he didn't look up. "Akane," he said finally, almost forcefully.

They stayed silent, and Akane didn't know what to say. She really didn't want him to leave, but the way he was acting, maybe it was best that she let him do whatever he wanted. "You're really leaving, huh?" she said then, brown eyes dark and lonely.

"Yeah, I bet you're really happy, eh? No more annoying fiance to irk you anymore. Now you can do whatever you want..." Ranma said, and trailed off. Almost angrily, he continued his packing.

A strange, cold feeling rose in Akane, and blindly she grabbed his bag and swung it across the room, sending the clothes flying everywhere. Ranma stared up at her, his eyes wide and bewildered. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked, his voice rising as he stood up and glared down at her.

"You damned ignorant jerk! Are you really gonna leave m - us? Do you really want to? Do we all mean nothing to you? I thought we were family! I thought you were family! And now you're just gonna leave? Are you insane?" she yelled, her voice choking as she neared the end of her speech, and found that tears were unknowingly working themselves up and out of her eyes. Blinking rapidly, Akane turned away from him.

Ranma didn't answer her, and for a moment she wondered what he was going to do, and then she realized he was gathering his clothes together. That was the last straw for Akane. "NO!" she screamed, tears running down her pretty face. "You can't leave! I won't let you leave! Give me those!" She took a blind grab for his things, but he jerked away.

"Damnit Akane!" he yelled, losing his temper. "Don't make this harder than it already is!"

Akane paused, blinking her confused eyes up at him. "Hard?" Her laugh was a bitter one. "What's so hard about you leaving? You were the one who made the decision, after all. Shouldn't it be us that are sad? Watching you walk away, do you think that's not hard for us?"

Ranma looked at her, his eyes undeciphered. "You're right," he said eventually, his voice even. "It's not hard for me at all." And he turned away from her.

*WHAP!*

Akane glared at her fiance, her hands curled into balls. Ranma, shocked at the slap he'd received, turned slowly to her. "You deserved that, you baka," she grounded out and kissed him.

It was not their first kiss. It wasn't the kisses that they'd experienced before, when one of them was not aware of each other. It wasn't sweet, either. It was hard and fast and hot and desperate, both answering each other with their bodies and hearts and everything.

Ranma grabbed at Akane and pressed her closer to him, his eyes closing tight, burning behind his eyelids. God, how he wanted this... how he craved for it - for her to be close to him, to be willing and submissive and beautiful. She never knew how much she meant to him, and it really hurt. He could just ignore it for a time, but it was getting harder and harder, especially when she was maturing, turning to a beautiful woman in everyway, no long that tomboy that he'd first met. He watched her and wanted her and the feeling inside him was just beating him up. He couldn't take it, and unless he wanted to die from it, he knew he must get away, hence the leaving plan. But right now... all he could think of was the person in his arms, kissing him as if hanging onto her life, kissing him as if she needed him as much as he needed her.

Ranma nudged her back against the wall, hands finding their way under her shirt and touching the hot, velvety skin that he longed for. She responded to him, her tongue slipping inside his mouth and then he could think no more.

"Akane..." he gasped, but Akane didn't let him say anything, just kissed him again, and again, her action bold and fierce, and Ranma suddenly realized that there was something wrong.

Almost reluctantly, he pushed her away, far enough so that they were still touching but she wasn't able to kiss him. "What are you doing?" he breathed harshly, his eyes unfocused with passion.

Akane swallowed, feeling vulnerable of all the sudden. She answered him, her throat dried, "You can, you know, just... stay here. Don't leave..."

Ranma felt like he was hit with a blast of cold water. So that's it... With a forceful laugh Ranma pushed her away completely, much to Akane's confusion. "Ranma...?"

"You know, I thought you were better than that," Ranma said coldly. "Prostituting your body just to make me stay. Are you really that low?"

Akane stared at him, disbelief sketched across her distressed face, and she knew she should've been mad at him, but all she wanted to do was cry, and she did, tears trailling down her face uncontrollably. "You baka, Ranma, baka, baka..." she whispered, not caring to wipe away her tears. "Don't you see? Don't you already know?"

Her eyes were teary, peering up at him, long eyelashes adding a coy look to her, and nothing could've described how he felt when he heard her say "I love you."

Ranma remembered, then, the first time he saw her, hating her instantly because she was awfully tomboy-ish and loud. He remembered the way she hung onto him whenever she was scared, remembered the way she yelled and hit him, the way she smiled, like the most beautiful flower with the sun shining down on it. And he knew he would always remember this moment, when she said she loved him.

Grasping her small hand in his, Ranma gave a smile and pulled her close. Tilting her head up, he brushed his lips to her, and with only a breath away from them, he whispered "I love you too."

Everything passed in a blur then - clothes discarding, hands roaming each other, lips on lips, skin on skin; they were in heaven.

Ranma smiled down at her, brushing away a strayed lock of hair and bending down to kiss her forehead sweetly, and Akane closed her eyes in bliss. If she had any doubt that he didn't love her before, they were all chased away now.

She pulled him down for a kiss, and smiled gently. It was pure heaven - an enchanting light in their hearts that shushed the pain, the emptiness, the hurt, leaving them all bare for love to snuggle comfortably inside. So sweet... so beautiful... Akane held him closer, and their breaths and gasps mingled together in the silent room. Ranma whispered to her his love, and let the completion took them over the edge.

Lying down next to her, he pulled a blanket over both of them and let her snuggle closer. In a tangle of limps and sheets, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

The End... oh, and they lived happily ever after with bunches of kids named Ranma and Akane Jr. ^_^

Again, please do review!!!